A Visit Down Under
by Angel of Fire SG1
Summary: The sequel to The Time Ever After. After rather rough time, Hammond send SG-1 to stay with his cousins on a farm in Australia...(J/S)
1. Touchdown Down Under

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A Visit Down Under

SUMMARY: _General Hammond thinks they have been through enough stress lately, so he's sending SG-1 on a holiday to his cousin's farm in Australia. (Sequel to _The Time Ever After,_ and I suggest you read that first)_

SPOILERS: _Probably 100 Days, Window of Opp, Divide and Conquer, Entity, Point of View, Solitudes and of course for my fic that I wrote before this!_

SEASON: _Uh, no idea! Sometime after Entity. But I haven't actually seen Entity, so don't kill me if I stuff up details and stuff. I've only read the script!_

RATING: _G - for General Viewing, lol._

CATEGORY/IES: _Romance/ Humour/ General (bit of Action with the cows)_

CONTENT WARNINGS: _None - maybe some violence between cows and fish. And there'll be one gunshot, maybe two…but that's it._

PAIRINGS: _Jack/Sam. A tiny little bit of Daniel/Janet_

DISCLAIMER: _Hey! I just realised what that word actually means. It means that you DIS CLAIM something. That's funny. OH oh, now you all think I'm weird. I knew what it meant, I just didn't know what it stood for…oh yeah the Disclaimer. Um…well I don't own SG-1, SGC, Stargate SG-1, Stargate any of the Stargate characters. But I DO own Hammond's cousins' farm and his cousins. I own the cows and sheep, the fences, the houses, the caravan, the TV's the…OK you get the point!!_

OK LETS START HEY??

CHAPTER ONE

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"Down Under!" Colonel Jack O'Neill said, stepping into the terminal at Melbourne Airport. "I've always wanted to come here."

"So why didn't you, sir?" Major Samantha Carter, his 2IC, asked.

"Because…I just didn't," Jack replied, he looked around. "Danny-boy! Where's the bags?"

A man with short brown hair and glasses, wearing shabby clothes walked towards them. He was reading a map of some kind. He looked up and squinted.

"You know what Jack? I have no idea," Dr Daniel Jackson replied.

A tall, bulky, man was standing on the other side of Jack. He had a fishing hat pulled over his forehead and he kept pushing it down as if he was afraid someone would see underneath. The truth was, he was afraid someone would see underneath. You see Teal'c wasn't from around here, or anywhere on Earth for that matter, Teal'c was from another planet.

"Ah, for crying out loud," he muttered, grabbing the shoulder of the nearest man. "Where's the luggage terminal?"

"Right over there," the man said, pointing towards a metallic door.

"Thanks…" Jack said, then he looked at the guy again. "…Mate."

Sam smiled, so did Daniel. Teal'c gave Jack a confused look.

"Mate? I do not understand…" Teal'c said.

"You will, buddy, just hang around Australia long enough and you'll understand a helluva lot more," Jack said, heading towards the luggage.

Teal'c followed closely behind Jack, but Sam hung back with Daniel. The two of them were like brother and sister, had been ever since they'd met. Only thing was that they got on better than normal siblings, and they weren't really related of course.

"You know I've always wanted to come to Australia, study some ancient Aboriginal artefacts or something," Daniel said, looking around. "But this place looks exactly like the US."

Sam smiled. "Well Australia is a lot like the US on the outside, but you drive a couple of hours inland and its totally different."

Daniel looked at her, confused. "How do you know that?"

"I did a project on Australia in third grade," Sam smiled.

"And you still _remember_ that?" Daniel asked, with amazement.

"Well…actually…" Sam had a sheepish smile. "I pulled my old project box out from the cupboard the other day because I remember I had it. Thought it might have some good info on Australia. Turned out it didn't really say much, just lots of pictures."

Jack turned around. "You two might wanna hurry up or we'll miss our ride."

Sam looked over in his direction. He was standing with another man, one she'd never seen before. He was wearing a checked shirt and plain beige pants. He had a bit of a stomach around his waste, and he had large glasses sitting on his nose. He had messy grey hair. He smiled as Sam and Daniel met up with them.

"Hi, I'm Bruce," he said, holding out a hand, he had a thick Australian accent. "You must Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson. George's told me a lot about you guys, seem to be some of his favourites."

"What exactly has he told you?" Sam asked, smiling.

"Nothing good," Bruce said, smiling.

"Well then I guess he hasn't left anything out!" Jack smiled. "Here's my bag."

He pulled a large black suitcase off the conveyer belt. Sam leaned over and pulled her brown bag off the conveyer belt as well. Teal'c had only brought a small suitcase and Daniel had brought two large ones.

"Danny-boy, shouldn't Carter be the one with all the suitcases? I mean she is the woman around here," he grinned.

"Thanks, sir," Sam replied.

The five of them made their way out of the airport towards the carpark. Sam noticed that they didn't seem to be near the city when they stepped outside. Actually it looked more like the country to her.

"Bruce, why isn't the airport anywhere near the city?" Sam asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"It is, only about a half hour drive," Bruce informed her.

"That's not that close," Sam commented.

"Well, we're going three hours away from the city," Bruce said. "That's the _real_ country, bit of a different I'd say."

"How far away is the closest city?" Sam asked, throwing her bag into the back of the car.

"About eight hours on the freeway," Bruce said. "I dunno really, never been there."

"You've never been to another city?" Sam asked.

"Oh I been to Sydney and Adelaide for cattle and horse shows, but never been to Canberra. Boring little whole that place is," he said. "You wanna get in the car?"

"Oh yeah," Sam said, opening the door of the car.

The car was one of the ute's with the closed back. There was just enough room for all of them to squeeze into the car. Teal'c had taken the front seat, because he took up the most amount of space. Daniel had one window seat and Sam had the other, Jack was squashed in the middle. 

"You don't have anything bigger do ya?" Jack asked, squirming uncomfortably.

"Nah, mate, sorry," Bruce said. "We have a van, but the engine don't work so good. Not the best for a three hour drive. We're hoping it'll be fixed by the time ya all go back to the USA. I could've brought the Mercedes, but that's even more squashy."

"Mercedes? On a farm?" Daniel asked.

"We need a nice car to go to shows and stuff in mate, all farmers need their Merc or BMW," Bruce informed him. "So have you folks eaten anything lately?"

"We had plane food," Jack said. "But what you really should ask is 'Have you eaten anything that has taste or substance in it?'"

Bruce laughed quietly. "OK I'll take ya to McDonald's just before the Westgate Bridge, then we'll go into town for dinner tonight."

"Town?" Jack repeated.

"Near the farm," Bruce explained to him. "It's about a twenty minute drive."

"Ah," Jack said.

They stopped off at McDonald's and then Bruce decided to take them over the Westgate Bridge. He said it wasn't that exciting, but he might as well show them some of Melbourne while they were in the area. 

"Dammit," Bruce muttered.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, craning her neck to see what the trouble in front of them was.

They'd been stuck on the bridge for the past ten minutes and they weren't even at the top yet.

"Road works," Bruce said, trying to turn into the right lane, but he was cut off by a motorcycle. "Bloody hell mate, you could've been killed!" he shouted out the window.

"Sorry mate, didn't see ya indicator," the bikie shouted back.

"It's OK mate," Bruce shouted back.

Daniel leaned over in front of Jack so Sam could hear him as well. "Now I know where they get the reputation for saying 'mate' from. They use it in every second sentence."

Sam smiled and leaned back in her seat. Within half an hour they were on their way again. The spent the next two and a half hours chatting and asking questions. When they finally turned off the freeway Sam decided that the airport wasn't in the country after all. All she could see for miles was farms and cattle, not even any houses.

"How much longer?" Jack asked, shifting in his seat again, squashing Sam closer to the door.

"Sir, move over," Sam said, pushing him away.

"Ow," Daniel exclaimed from the other side of the car.

"Five minutes," Bruce said, smiling. "Sorry bout the car space."

"Oh no its fine, we don't mind," Jack said sarcastically. "I mean its not _that_ squashy in the backseat."

Sam smiled. Suddenly as they reached the top of a hill a house came into view. Actually three houses appeared, far apart, but close enough to be on the same property; as far as Sam could tell anyway. 

"Here we are," Bruce said, turning into the driveway. "The farm."

"It doesn't have a name?" Daniel asked.

"Killington," Bruce replied. "But we just call in the farm."

"Ah," Daniel said.

Bruce stopped the car and Jack leaned over Sam and opened the door. "Get out, quickly!"

Sam smiled and stepped out of the car. Jack stepped out after her, stretching his arms out in a yawning position.

"Finally, fresh air and room," he said, looking around. "Lots of room."

"Talking about rooms, Sam you'll be staying in the caravan over there. And you three guys will be staying in one of the inside bedrooms," Bruce informed them, walking up the path towards the old, downtrodden house.

Teal'c subconsciously pulled the hat on his head further over his forehead. Suddenly Sam realised that maybe it wasn't going to be so easy to hide Teal'c's symbiont from Hammond's family. But she decided this wasn't the time to discuss that.

"Carter you need help taking your bag to your caravan?" Jack asked, the look in his eye telling her that he needed to discuss something with her.

"Not really sir, but you can come along anyway," she said.

Bruce nodded. "You two come this way."

Teal'c and Daniel followed Bruce towards the main house and Jack started towards the small caravan. Sam walked after him, looking around her. There were hills or mountains in the distance. They seemed to be at the top of a slope. Down the slope there was a dirt road, which lead to another house about a kilometre away. To her right there was a hay shed and behind that she could see paddocks full of cows. To her left was a wood shed and a chicken pen. Behind that there were more paddocks and more cows. Right in front of her was a paddock full of sheep.

"Carter," Jack said as he opened the door. "Ladies first."

"Thanks, sir," she said, stepping inside and putting her bags down.

The caravan was nice. To her right there was a kitchen bench and above that cupboards. In front of her was a small TV and to her left was another couch, around the small kitchen table and behind that there was a double bed with a small table on each side. All the curtains were held back by tie-backs.

"Nice," Jack said. "I bet you where I'm staying is a dump."

Sam smiled. "It won't be that bad."

"Better than the accommodation at the SGC?" Jack asked.

"How often do you use that?" Sam replied.

"More often than you think," Jack said.

"You wanted to talk to me about something?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Uh, you know the other day when we were at my house, with Luke and when Daniel walked in and I…sorry I didn't mean to do anything to make you feel uncomfortable," Jack spat out.

"It's OK," Sam said, turning away and feeling her cheeks turn bright red. "Uh, maybe we should go back up to the house now."

"OK," Jack said, turning to leave, without his usual 'ladies first'.

Sam followed silently, thinking about the wonderful kiss they'd shared at Jack's house only a few days earlier.


	2. Fire and Family

CHAPTER TWO

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SPOILER ALERT: Major 100 Days spoiler and a minor Point of View one.

Jack looked around the dinner table. There were nine other people seated at the table. On Jack's right was Teal'c (or Murray as they were calling him), next to Teal'c was Daniel and next to Daniel was Sam. Next to Sam was Bruce's niece, Anna, and on her other side was Bruce and then his wife Kerry. Next to Kerry was her twenty-two-year-old son, Jonathan, and then his girlfriend Charlotte. On the other side of Jack (between him and Charlotte) was Ralf, Bruce's friend and fellow farmer.

"Charlotte, can you please pass the potatoes," Anna said, leaning over and grabbing them for herself.

"You idiot," Jonathan groaned. "Why do bother asking for it, when you're just gonna grab it for yourself?"

"Shut up, just cos you're eight years older than me doesn't mean you can boss me around all the time," Anna said.

"I wasn't bossing you around, I was just saying…" Jonathan continued.

Jack turned to Daniel's conversation with Ralf, hoping it would be slightly more interesting. After the first line he decided it was not.

"So when exactly was this area settled?" Daniel asked.

Jack almost groaned. Teal'c was eating his food and enjoying it greatly. Bruce, Kerry and Charlotte were in deep conversation about something. So Jack looked Sam. She was looking at him, but the minute their eyes met, she looked down at her plate. Trying to avoid his eyes.

"Carter," he said.

"Yes, sir," she said, looking up again, but trying to avoid his eyes.

"Sam," he tried again.

"Colonel," she said. "You want to say something?"

"Sam," he repeated.

She looked up into his eyes. "Jack."

Daniel looked away from his conversation with Ralf to stare at Sam. "Jack?" he repeated with a sound of awe in his voice. "Wow."

Everybody at the table fell silent and looked at either Jack or Sam. They were still looking at each other. It wasn't an angry stare, but it wasn't an 'I love you' type of stare either. More of a 'trying to figure things out' kind of stare. 

"Ah, Jack? Sam?" Daniel asked.

"Yes?" they both said, looking at him at the same time.

"Dinner's over," Kerry said, standing up and starting to clear plates.

Sam also started to clear plates. "Do you want help?"

"No I'll be fine," Kerry said, smiling at her. "Why don't you all go and get some rest. Sorry we couldn't go out for dinner tonight, but it's a bit late."

Anna yawned. "Well I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"I'm going to start the fire outside," Ralf said.

"I'll come," Daniel said.

"As will I," Teal'c said, standing up.

"Charlotte, do you wanna come to visit the Brown's with me?" Jonathan asked, standing up. "I have to give them something."

"OK," Charlotte, said standing up and handing her plate to Kerry.

Bruce got up as well. "I'll come I need to talk to the Brown's as well."

Five minutes later Kerry also decided to leave the room, leaving Sam and Jack staring at each other. Jack watched her blue eyes searching his for some sign of what he was thinking. Her blonde hair was starting to grow longer again, hanging loosely above her ears. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she was.

"Sam…" he started, but broke off.

She looked at him expectantly.

"I…" he looked into her eyes again. "…I'm sorry about the other day, I really am. I shouldn't've taken advantage of the situation like that…"

"Sir, you didn't take advantage of the situation," Sam replied. "I let you. It was both of our faults."

"It was mine more than yours," he said.

"How? I asked you what happened in the time loop, you just showed me," Sam said.

"I shouldn't have done that either," Jack said.

"Done what?" Sam asked.

"Kissed you in the time loop," Jack said. "It was wrong, to take advantage of the situation like that. But you see I had to know…"

"Just like I had to know what happened in the time loop, it wasn't your fault," Sam said. "Now if you'd excuse me I'm going to bed. I'm tired and jetlagged."

She got up and walked outside. Jack watched her leave and almost cringed as the door seemed to slam shut behind her. He got up slowly and switched off the light. Letting the light from the fire drift inside, as well as Daniel and Ralf's conversation.

"Well I don't know, not really," Daniel said. "They never talk about it, not to me anyway."

"But you're friends, right?" Ralf asked.

"Yeah, we're all friends, but there are some things in the military that are not discussed openly, like that," Daniel said.

Jack immediately knew they were talking about him and Sam. He decided to sit down and listen longer. Maybe he could pick up something Sam had told Daniel or Janet that he didn't know about.

"Oh, well there have been a couple of things," Daniel said. "Uh, Jack disappeared for a couple of months last year, and Sam spent the whole hundred days he was missing, searching for a way to find him. All day and all night. So many times Janet and I had to wake her up and take her to the nearest bedroom. One night Janet got so mad at her Murray, Janet and I dragged her off to Janet's car and then Janet drove her home and made her stay there for three days and sleep. But she still worked, on her laptop, trying to find a way to get him back."

"Where was he?" Ralf asked.

"Ah, that's classified material," Daniel said awkwardly. "Anyway, so when we finally found Jack, he'd come to the conclusion that he was never going to come home. So he'd settled down with another woman. Sam got really jealous. Tried to avoid him for weeks after the incident. I don't think they've ever talked about it. I don't even know if Jack realised what Sam went through. She was tired, depressed and she lost a lot of weight. And trust me, she didn't need to loose any weight. But I don't think Jack knew, it never occurred to him what she went through."

Jack leaned back in his chair. What had he done to her? He'd sent her through what would've been the second closest to hell she'd ever been (the closest was the time that they actually went to hell). How had he been so stupid? Of course Sam would've had help working on it, but no one else on base was nearly as smart as she was. He hadn't understood at the time, but the machine she had made had previously been thought impossible to be made, even by the Tok'ra.

"Well there was this other time they were forced to admit that they had feelings from each other, Janet told me about that, but I can't tell you any details because it's all classified," Daniel said.

"That would be bloody annoying, not being able to discuss your work," Ralf said. "I mean, I'm just a farmer, mate, have been my whole life. So all this classified stuff is getting to my head."

"I think I'm going to go to bed," Daniel said, yawning. "I haven't slept for twenty-four hours."

Jack got up and pushed open the door, walking outside and down the steps towards Daniel and Ralf. Daniel stood up and started walking back towards the house.

"Hi Jack," he said. "Where're you going?"

"To visit Carter," he said.

"Why?" Daniel asked, starting to sound worried.

"I never realised what she went through when I was on Edora," Jack said.

"Oh…" Daniel said, as Jack started down the path towards the caravan. "I didn't…"

"It's OK," Jack said over his shoulder.

He could feel Daniel watching him walk towards the caravan. Jack didn't really want to go to visit Sam, but with Daniel watching him like a hawk, he had to.

Inside the caravan Sam was sitting on the bed. The TV was on in the background, but she wasn't watching or even listening to it. She was staring at the photo in her hands. Suddenly the door opened and she jumped, placing the photo upside-down on her bedside table.

"Sir, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Ah, I came to say hi," he replied. "Actually, the truth is I like your caravan and I was going to ask if we could share."

Sam laughed, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her socks. "Why'd you really come here?"

"To get away from Daniel," he sighed. "So what are you doing?"

"Sitting," she replied.

"Before I came in?" Jack asked.

"Looking at a photo," Sam replied, looking at the TV. "Oh, the red and black team's winning."

Jack knew she was trying to change the subject. He spotted the photo she must've been talking about sitting on the bedside table. He walked towards the bed and Sam shuffled uncomfortably.

"What's the photo of?" he asked, leaning over the bed to the table.

"None of your business," she said, putting her hand firmly on top of it. "Go away."

"Go away…sir?" he said.

"Don't start that again," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm not in withdrawal," he smiled. "Can I just see the photo?"

"No," Sam said.

He sighed, leaning away from the table. "Fine, have it your way."

Sam took her hand off the photo. Jack, grabbing the chance, jumped on the bed and grabbed the photo.

"Aaah! Sir, give it back," she said, trying to grab it off him. "Don't rip it!"

Jack started laughing, so did Sam. Actually Sam started laughing so hard she couldn't keep hold of the photo. Jack grabbed it away from her and turned it over so he could see it. Straight away he recognised the wedding photo that the alternate reality Carter had had. 

"How'd you get this?" Jack asked, looking up.

Sam stopped laughing. "She left it behind, by 'accident'."

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

"Sir I…" she broke off, meeting his eyes.

For what seemed like hours they sat there in silence, gazing into each other's eyes. Finally Jack decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry I acted like such a jerk when I came back from Edora," he said, handing her the photo back.

"You weren't a jerk," Sam said.

"Carter, admit it, I was a jerk to you," Jack said.

"OK you were a jerk to me," Sam said, they both smiled. "But that's in the past."

"I never realised what you went through to get me back," Jack said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, sir," Sam said.

Jack got up and walked to the door. He took one last look back at her, but she was back to staring at the photo. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. He looked up at the sky and sighed. Why did everything have to be so difficult? Why couldn't it be just like in the other realities. Why couldn't he be married to her, why couldn't that photo belong to them?

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Because the good stuff never happens to you, he thought to himself. _Always to everyone else, but never to the person who wants it most._

And with that he sighed. He wasn't tired yet, he was used to long, awkward hours and wandering around strange places. So he decided to take a walk. He walked to the end of the garden and unlocked the gate that lead into the closest paddock. He closed the gate behind him and saw Sam standing in the doorway of the caravan, watching him. He decided to ignore her and continue his walk. Looking at the stars. 

Maybe one day he would be able to watch the stars without having to worry what was up there.

Maybe one day he would be able to watch the stars, with Sam at his side, and neither of them having to worry about what was out there.

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Hang around, I never write such short stories, never fear Stickna!


	3. Divide and Conquer

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I'm gonna warn ya now, this story will either be rather short, or you might have to wait like five or six weeks in-between posts. Don't ask why, just accept it! I'll try and finish it before that'll happen though. I'm just gonna warn ya. Oh, and major SPOILER for Divide and Conquer (like a whole scene from it…and Upgrades as well, if you wanna put it that way)

CHAPTER THREE

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"Major Carter was trapped behind a forcefield," Anise said.

"That's right," Jack replied.

****

Flashback

Jack was banging on the control panel. He managed to open it. 

"Sir there's no time!" Sam said.

They heard footsteps and both turned to face that direction. Sam looked back at Jack, fear in her eyes.

****

End flashback

"There were sounds." Jack continued

"You did everything you could?" Anise asked.

"Yes," Jack said.

"You couldn't save her?" Anise said.

"No," Jack said bluntly.

"But you still could've saved yourself?" Anise pressed.

"I guess," Jack said.

****

Flashback

Jack was banging the force field. 

"Sir," Sam started.

"I know, no!" Jack shouted, still banging.

****

End flashback

"What happened next?" Anise continued.

****

Flashback

Jack goes back to banging the control panel.

"Sir, just go," Sam pleaded.

"NO!" Jack said, meeting her gaze.

Sam had that pleading look in her eyes again. Jack looked like he had just realised something he never knew before. Then the Serpent Guards appeared behind them.

****

End flashback

"And what were you feeling?" Anise asked.

"Like someone who was about to die," Jack said, avoiding anyone's gaze.

Sam looked down at the machine that confirmed he was still hiding something, then she looked up at him. "Sir…"

Jack looked up to meet Sam's eyes.

****

Flashback

They were staring into each other's eyes. Standing very close, separated only by the force field. 

****

End Flashback

"I didn't leave…" Jack paused. "Because I'd have rather died myself, than loose Carter."

"Why?" Anise asked.

"Because I care about her…" he looked up. "A lot _more than I'm supposed to."_

Sam and Jack's eyes meet again. 

"You are not a Zatarc," Anise concluded.

"Now retest me," Sam said finally.

"Sam?" a knock came on the door of the caravan.

Sam's eyes sprung open. She looked at the roof and immediately everything that had happened the night before seeped back into her mind. She swallowed deeply.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"It's me, Daniel," said the familiar voice.

She let out a sigh of relief and rolled out her bed. She got up and walked over to the door. She opened it to find Daniel standing outside there. She ran her hair through her messy hair and smiled.

"Bit early isn't it?" she asked, looking at her watch. "Oh my god, its already eleven-thirty, I slept in."

"You're lights were on till late," Daniel said. "Did Jack come by?"

Sam felt herself turn slightly red and she looked away from Daniel.

"Sam, you OK?" Daniel asked.

"I'm fine," she said. "I just had a…dream."

"A bad dream?" Daniel asked.

"No, a good one," Sam sighed.

"Well then, what's wrong?" Daniel asked.

"Nothing, never mind," Sam replied.

"Oh, anyway, Teal'c and I are going to explore the farm. Ah, Anna's going to show us around," Daniel said. "Would you like to come?"

"Sure," Sam said. "Just give me a minute."

She closed the door and waited till she'd heard Daniel leave. She flung on some clothes and quickly brushed her hair. She glanced quickly over to the upside-down photo lying on her bed-side table, but decided it would be fine where it was.

Fishing. The wonderful art of sitting on the bank with a rod in one hand and a cold beer in the other. Jack leaned forwards slightly, trying to see if he could actually see any fish in the pond. Bruce had sworn there were fish in there, but he hadn't caught anything yet. He shrugged. He never caught anything in his lake either so he couldn't really complain.

"Nice, warm, weather," Jack mumbled.

He closed his eyes and listened for any sounds. All he could hear was cows mooing and a four-wheel-motorbike somewhere in the distance. Occasionally something would fall into pond and make a splash, but he ignored that.

He was having fun where he was.

Anna pulled on Sam's sleeve. "Sam, are you awake today?" 

"Oh, just jet-lagged," Sam replied, yawning just to prove it.

Daniel looked over at her suspiciously. Sam didn't get jetlagged, she went to different planets on a daily basis and she had never, ever gotten jet-lagged. Teal'c also seemed to have noticed something odd about her behaviour, because he wandered over to Daniel's side as Anna dragged Sam down the hill to see the horse stables.

"Major Carter appears to be acting rather strangely," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, she is acting weird," Daniel replied. "Maybe its got something to do with that fight she and Jack had yesterday."

"I do not think so DanielJackson. Last night O'Neill and Major Carter were talking to each other without arguing of any kind," Teal'c said.

"You were _listening_?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c didn't reply, but a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Teal'c!" Daniel said. "That's very unlike you."

"I only overheard their conversation because it was rather loud and I was stacking wood outside Major Carter's caravan," Teal'c said. "I did not mean to listen in. But it was loud and rather interesting."

"Interesting?" Daniel repeated. "What were they talking about?"

"I will not reveal that DanielJackson," Teal'c said. "I don't believe either O'Neill or Major Carter would want any part of their conversation repeated."

"I understand," Daniel said.

There was a few minutes of silence. Daniel couldn't think of anything to say and Teal'c rarely, if ever, started a conversation. So they were left stranded.

"So…" Daniel said as they reached the horse stables. "Hey Anna, how old are you?"

"Fourteen," Anna replied. "Why?"

"You got a boyfriend yet?" Sam asked.

Anna smiled. "Yeah, kinda. What about you Daniel, you got a girlfriend?"

"I was married," Daniel said. "But, uh, my wife died about a year and a half ago."

"Oh," Anna said, her smile fading. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Daniel said. "It was for the better."

Teal'c and Sam shot each other a worried glance. Anna noted the subdued atmosphere and turned to Teal'c.

"You got a girlfriend?" she asked.

"I am married and I have a son named Ry…" he stopped. "..an."

"Ryan?" Anna repeated. "OK."

She turned around, back towards Sam.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Anna asked.

"No," Sam said.

"No?" Anna repeated. "But I saw a photo inside your caravan and…"

"What were you doing in my caravan?" Sam cut her off, but it was already too late.

"Photo?" Daniel repeated.

"From, my twin sisters wedding," Sam said.

"But it was of you and Jack," Anna said.

Sam turned bright red and Daniel smiled slightly. What was this about? Teal'c raised an eyebrow and turned to Daniel. 

"Alright, that's enough," Sam said.

Anna shrunk back. "Sorry."

"No Anna, I'm not mad at you, you just don't understand," Sam said. "Don't worry, its not your fault."

"Maybe we should head back towards home, it'll be lunch time soon," Anna said.

Jack looked up as he heard talking and laughing behind him. Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Anna were walking towards him. Sam Daniel and Teal'c broke off, towards the main house, but Anna started running in his direction.

"Hey Jack," she said, sitting down next to him. "You caught anything yet?"

"Nope, not a thing," Jack said.

"No food for you then," Anna smiled.

"Or anyone else," he replied. "Where're Carter, Daniel and Murray going?"

"Back home, for lunch," Anna said. "But it won't be ready for about fifteen minutes, so I thought I'd come and help you fish."

Jack laughed. "Well its no use, doesn't seem to be much here."

"You like fishing huh?" Anna asked.

"Oh yeah. I own a cabin next to a lake back in the US and I go there all the time," Jack said.

"Do any of the others go?" Anna asked.

"Teal'c came once," Jack said. "We didn't catch anything, so he won't join me again. I wouldn't want to spend the weekend alone with Daniel. No offence to him, but all his science stuff really gets to my head."

"What about Sam?" Anna asked.

She immediately saw she'd hit a soft spot and decided maybe it was better to change the subject. But Jack continued the conversation anyway.

"Her scientific techno-babble isn't quite as annoying as Daniel's," he said. "But she won't come."

"Why not?" Anna asked.

"For exactly the same reason I ask her _to_ come," Jack sighed.

Anna gave him an expectant look. But there was no reply, no further conversation. They just sat silently on the side of the pond. Suddenly Anna perked up again.

"Maybe she'd come fishing here, on this pond," Anna said.

"I doubt it, it's not the nicest or most comfortable place is it?" Jack asked.

"Well we could take ya down to the Moran's lake. It's enormous and its surrounded by gum trees. It's really nice. Of course you'd have to take a boat out into the middle of the lake, cos there ain't no fish on the outside, but it's really nice," Anna suggested.

"Wouldn't the Moran's mind?" Jack asked.

"Nah, we're all friends around here. Casey and Morgan Moran are my best friends," Anna said. "They're twins."

"Ah," Jack said, reeling in the rod. "Well I don't think there's anything here, so how about we pack up and go have lunch. Then I'll see if we can drag Carter down to this nice lake."

Anna smiled. Her plan was working.

"Right. Well that was a nice lunch thanks," Bruce said, standing up. "But we gotta get down to town for some supplies. Anybody willing to join us?"

Daniel accepted and so did Teal'c. Sam was about to follow, but Jack caught her shoulder with his hand, spinning her around.

"Yes?" she asked, then remembering something else added. "Sir."

"Carter, Anna and I were gonna go fishing at the Moran's lake. It's really nice and surrounded by gum trees, according to Anna. I was wondering if you'd like to come?" Jack asked.

"Fishing, sir?" Sam asked. "On the shore or on a boat?"

"What does it matter?" Jack asked.

Sam was surprised by this answer. Maybe he knew that half the reason she'd never gone with him to his lakeside cabin was because she was afraid. Afraid of being alone with him, what might happen. She was even afraid of having a private, decent, conversation with him without having airmen and doctors wondering in and out all the time.

"You can do either," Anna said, popping up beside Jack again.

Sam saw Jack smile slightly. And she gave in.

"OK, it can't hurt to go fishing once," she said. "Who else is coming?"

"Just us three," Jack said.

__

At least we won't be alone, thought Sam.

"OK, sir," Sam said. "I'll just get my jacket."

Jack smiled. He was finally going to get his fishing adventure. All he had to do now was…

"Hey Anna," he said, as Sam walked out of the room. "You think you could maybe, not go fishing or something. Maybe decide to stay with your friends when we get over there, but don't tell Carter I asked you to because…"

"You just needa talk to her by yourself?" Anna asked.

"That's about right," Jack said.

"Sure thing," Anna replied.


	4. The Art of Fishing (and more...)

1 CHAPTER FOUR  
  
"Argh, I hate boats," Sam said, stepping in and sitting down.  
  
"Why?" Jack asked, from his position next to her.  
  
He fiddled with the fishing rods and made sure they were both OK. He looked up at Anna who was standing on the shore.  
  
"Well you coming in or not?" Jack asked.  
  
Anna smiled slightly. "Nah, maybe later. Casey just reminded me that we have an assignment due tomorrow."  
  
"You promise you'll come on later?" Sam asked, Jack noted the slight sound of anxiety in her voice.  
  
Anna ran off towards the main house where her two friends were standing.  
  
  
  
"Where are Sam and Jack?" Charlotte asked Daniel as he walked back into the kitchen.  
  
"They went fishing," Daniel replied.  
  
"Oh," Charlotte said. "So are you having fun in Australia?"  
  
Daniel opened the fridge and took the bottle of orange juice out. "Yeah, it's a nice country."  
  
"What's your job? You don't really strike me as the military type," Charlotte replied.  
  
"I don't?" Daniel asked. "Oh, OK. I'm an archaeologist. But I work with the military on a top secret project."  
  
"Classified?" Charlotte asked, surprised. "Bruce's cousin works on a classified military project? That's pretty cool."  
  
"Ah, yeah," Daniel said, sitting down at the table. "So where exactly did Jack and Sam go?"  
  
"The Moran's. They're Anna's friends, a couple of kilometers down the road and they have a nice little lake with gum trees surrounding it," Charlotte said. "Jonathan took me there the first time we met. That's also where he asked me out."  
  
Daniel smiled. "A nice little romantic place huh?"  
  
"You could say that," Charlotte replied. "Those two are in love aren't they?"  
  
"I don't think they've ever admitted it," Daniel said. "But Murray and our friend Janet Frasier, well we all think that they have feelings for eachother. But even if they wanted to admit it, they're not allowed. It's military regulations."  
  
"Really? Man that would suck," Charlotte said.  
  
"I guess it would," Daniel said.  
  
  
  
Sam leaned over the side of the boat and looked at the sinker. It was still bobbing on the surface.  
  
"Sir, I don't think we're going to find anything?" she finally said, reeling in her rod. "We've been here for an hour and there's still nothing."  
  
"Carter," he said. "You gotta be patient with fishing."  
  
"Yes, sir," Sam replied, casting the rod back out, but the hook caught on her jacket. "Ow! Shit."  
  
Jack laughed a little and leaned over, pulling the hook of her jacket. "You OK?"  
  
"That hurt," she said, rubbing her shoulder.  
  
Then she reached out and took the hook from Jack's hand. As she took the hook their hands met. Sam felt a sudden surge of what felt like electricity through her body. She looked up and found Jack gazing into her eyes.  
  
Uh oh, Sam thought.  
  
Jack started to lean forwards slightly. Sam started leaning towards him as well. She felt his lips brush hers, and then suddenly she turned away.  
  
"Sam…?" Jack said, sounding slightly worried. "What's wrong?"  
  
Sam, she repeated to herself in her head. When he calls me Sam he wants one of those discussions. Right now is not the time for one of those conversations.  
  
"Nothing," Sam replied. "We just…we can't, sir."  
  
She emphasized the sir, as if to remind him that they were still in the military and there were regulations holding them apart.  
  
"Sir, if we start this, if we kiss again, it's going to hurt more when we get back to the SGC," Sam tried to explain.  
  
"Sam, it hurts so much already," Jack said. "Everyday I sit next to you, or watch you across the table. All I want to do is reach out and take your hand," as he said this he took her hand in his again, "or kiss you, hug you, be able to discuss things like this. But I can't. Not one damn day can I do anything without risking a court martial."  
  
Sam looked down at her hand in his.  
  
"You're the only reason I'm still at the SGC," Jack continued. "I would much rather be sitting at home, or at my cabin, fishing, than fighting aliens or travelling to other planets. But I couldn't bare sitting at home or fishing, when all I could think about was what you were doing, if you were in trouble. If something happened to you when I wasn't there, I think I'd die. I couldn't loose you. Not like I lost Charlie, not even how I lost Sara. I won't let it happen.  
  
"I never even realised how I felt about you until Jollinar. When you were lying on that bed, dying, I couldn't leave, I just couldn't leave. They needed me, I can't even remember what for, but I know I should've been helping them with something else. Something more important. But I just couldn't leave you. If anything happened, I had to be there."  
  
"Sir," she said, then she looked up. "Jack…"  
  
I called him Jack, she thought. I actually said his name to his face. Why is that so hard? Why can't it just be natural, like calling him sir.  
  
But she knew the answer to that. She was afraid that if she let herself call him Jack she'd let herself be more open with him. That's why she always called him sir, to remind herself, more than anyone else, that he was her Commanding Officer and she wasn't allowed any kind of relationship other than friendship with him.  
  
"I never really knew how I felt until you were stuck on Edora," she started. "I mean I knew before then, but it never really sunk in that I loved you…"  
  
She froze. Love. She had said that she loved him. She loved him. She had never, ever, admitted it to anyone, not even to herself. It had always been that she 'cared' about him, or she was very 'close' to him. But she had never allowed herself to use the word 'love' before.  
  
"Oh my god," she said quietly, pulling her hand away from his. "Can we please go back to solid ground…sir?"  
  
"Yeah, OK," Jack replied casually, as if nothing had happened.  
  
  
  
Daniel stood up as Jack and Sam appeared in the distance. Anna was walking with Sam, but Jack was hanging back a bit, as if they'd had some sort of fight or argument. They weren't carrying anything that looked like fish and they'd borrowed the fishing rods from the Moran's, so there was nothing for them to carry.  
  
"No luck?" he asked as they got closer.  
  
"No fish," Anna said cheerfully.  
  
Sam didn't say anything, she seemed distracted. She sat down in the chair next to Daniel as Anna bounced inside. Jack just stood next to Daniel, watching Sam. They both seemed to be thinking…a lot. But neither of them seemed into the talking mood.  
  
"Hello?" Daniel asked.  
  
Neither of them replied.  
  
"Sam?" Daniel asked, sitting down again. "You OK?"  
  
"I'm fine," Sam replied.  
  
Jack turned around and walked inside. Daniel watched him leave. Neither of them seemed to be angry at each other, but they didn't seem as if they were on the best terms either.  
  
"Sam, what happened?" Daniel asked once Jack was out of earshot.  
  
"Nothing," Sam said quietly.  
  
"Sam…" Daniel warned.  
  
"Daniel…" Sam warned, obviously telling him to back off. "Nothing happened."  
  
"Oh, nothing happened, but neither you nor Jack seem to be talking to eachother…of course, for no reason," Daniel said sarcastically.  
  
"You don't understand!" Sam shouted, standing up. "Daniel you have got no idea what I feel like. What I want to do, but I can't because it could jeopardize my career, his career. I'm afraid to even be to friendly with him. Just incase someone takes it the wrong way! Everybody knows Daniel, even General Hammond knows! But we still can't show it! I can't say or do anything!"  
  
Even thought she didn't say it, Daniel knew what she was talking about. He shrunk back in his chair as she shouted at him. Suddenly she stopped and collapsed into tears. Daniel stood up and hugged her.  
  
"Come on Sam, it can't be that bad," Daniel said, knowing that in truth it was.  
  
"I'm sorry Daniel, I didn't mean to shout at you," Sam said. "It's just so hard."  
  
Jack came outside again and saw Sam crying in Daniel's arms. He walked quickly over to where they were standing. He reached a hand forwards and moved her hair from her face. She looked up to him. Daniel moved away. Jack reached towards her and put his arms around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.  
  
"It'll be OK, Sam," he whispered.  
  
She leaned her head against his chest. It felt so right, so normal and comfortable, as if it was meant to be this way. She remembered the hug they had shared on Hathor's ship. That had been different, more of a relief that they were both alive, this hug had a different meaning.  
  
Love.  
  
It was that word again. She pulled away from him and she could see the pain return to his face. The disappointment of her always pulling away from him when they got too close. But it wasn't his fault; she wasn't ready for anything. Not yet.  
  
"Thanks, sir," she said. "I'll be OK."  
  
She turned around and walked quickly back in the direction of her caravan. Jack flopped down into the chair she had been sitting in.  
  
"Why does she always pull away?" he asked himself, more than Daniel.  
  
"Because she's afraid," Daniel replied.  
  
"Did I ask you?" Jack asked.  
  
"Well no but…Jack, I know that she loves you. That's what she's afraid of," Daniel said.  
  
"She's afraid of love?" Jack asked, saying the last word awkwardly.  
  
"Yes," Daniel said. "No…"  
  
"No?" Jack asked, confused.  
  
"She's not afraid of love," Daniel said. "She's afraid to let herself love you, someone she's not allowed to love. She doesn't want to break the regs, but she really wants to feel wanted by someone, accepted…"  
  
Daniel looked over at Jack, who was still staring at Sam's disappearing figure.  
  
"She wants to be loved," Daniel said. "But she's also afraid of it. Haven't you ever noticed how she never shows her feelings for you? She seems to try and hide them, as if she's afraid of it herself."  
  
"Daniel how do you know all this?" Jack asked.  
  
"Between what she's told Janet and I, it's not hard," Daniel said.  
  
"She talks to you and Janet about it?" Jack asked in surprise.  
  
"Not me that often, but to Janet all the time," Daniel said.  
  
"And Janet tells you?" Jack exclaimed.  
  
"Yes," Daniel said. "But usually when we're at her house, or out with Cassie."  
  
"You do stuff with Janet outside the SGC?" Jack asked.  
  
"All the time," Daniel said. "So does Sam."  
  
"Do you do stuff with Sam outside the SGC?" Jack asked.  
  
"Yeah, but not as often as Janet. Sam tends to spend her free time in her lab," Daniel said. "Why?"  
  
"I never do anything with Sam, ever," Jack said.  
  
"Never?" Daniel repeated.  
  
"Never," Jack said. "I just presumed that none of you guys did stuff together."  
  
"Have you ever asked her to do something?" Daniel asked.  
  
"No," Jack replied. "I…what if she doesn't want to?"  
  
"Jack you're afraid too, aren't you?" Daniel asked.  
  
"I'm not afraid," Jack protested.  
  
But Daniel knew he was lying. Jack never followed rules or regulations, what reason would he have for following that specific one? There was only one explanation, he was just as afraid as Sam was. But in a different way. He wasn't afraid to show his feelings for her, he was just afraid to show it to her face. 


	5. The End

CHAPTER FIVE

----------------

Sam spent the rest of the day being silent. All the way through dinner she was silent. Jack didn't even turn up for dinner. He'd gone out with the Moran's to do some more fishing, but in the _real_ lake, with _real_ fish. Daniel kept shooting her worried glances all the way through dinner. It was unusual for her to be so quiet, even when she was tired.

"Sam you OK?" he asked eventually.

"Fine," she said. "Just thinking."

"Surprise, surprise," Daniel muttered.

Normally Sam would've said something back. But her mind was too busy with other thoughts to think about a comeback for Daniel. She put her fork onto her plate and started playing around with her food. Anna looked across at her and then at Daniel in question. Daniel just shrugged. Sam saw it all out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't say anything. Her mind was elsewhere.

"Sorry I'm late," Jonathan said, walking into the kitchen. "Hey Charlotte."

"Hi," she said, leaning over and kissing him on the lips.

Sam felt a stab of pain in her heart. She looked up as Jack followed closely behind. She couldn't say or do anything like that. She looked back down at her plate and fiddle with her food again. Why did everything have to be so difficult? 

Jack sat down next to her and started putting food on his plate. "You not hungry, Carter?"

__

Carter, she repeated to herself. He was back in that mode. He wasn't going to try anything anymore, especially not with everyone else around.

"No, sir, I'm fine," she replied.

__

Sir, she also repeated. _I hate that word_.

Jack shrugged and started eating his food, joining in Bruce and Jonathan's conversation about something. Sam didn't even know what they were talking about. The same thoughts kept running over and over in her mind. Actually it was more one word that kept repeating itself in her thoughts. _Why?_ Always _why?_

But she couldn't think of an answer. It wasn't like a maths or physics problem. It wasn't even like trying to choose what to do in battle. In battle she always _knew_ what to do. She didn't have to _think_ about it, it came automatically. This kinda thing was _also_ supposed to come automatically. The only thing was that what she would normally automatically do, she couldn't. Because of the regulations.

__

Oh god, I keep repeating myself, she thought. _I'm going nuts. I'm going to go insane. I'm going to…_

"Carter?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir?" she replied, immediately.

He looked at her as if to say she'd answered _too_ quickly. "Can you please pass the salt?"

"Yes, sir," she said.

She passed the salt and stood up. She gathered her plate and cutlery and took it to the sink. Then she wandered through the house. They'd been there for a few days and she hadn't even seen the whole house properly yet. She'd been too preoccupied. 

She walked down the hallway and looked into the first room on her left. It was obviously Anna's room. There were posters hanging (or falling off) on the wall. Sam smiled, remembering when she'd been that age and everything had seemed to easy, until her mum had died. She sighed and turned to the opposite room, the one to her right.

It was the guest room. They one Daniel, Jack and Teal'c were sharing. There was a bunk and a single bed. Daniel and Teal'c were sharing the bunk and Jack had the single bed. She could tell because they all had their clothes lying everywhere.

She sighed and walked into the room, sitting down on Jack's bed. She pulled up one of his T-shirt's and hugged it. Maybe one day she could be the one to wash his clothes, do the ironing…

"Dream on Sam," she told herself. "It ain't gonna happen."

She looked around the room and leaned back against the wall on his bed. It was so nice to be on holidays, but why couldn't her holidays be less complicated?

__

Because you're Samantha Carter, she reminded herself. 

Daniel rubbed his eyes and turned the corner into his bedroom. "Whoa!"

He stopped when he noticed Sam asleep in Jack's bed. He turned around to Jack and Teal'c who were walking up the hall towards him.

"Looks like someone's gonna have to steal Sam's bed tonight," Daniel said.

"Why would we do that DanielJackson?" Teal'c asked.

Jack looked into the room. "That would be why. For crying out loud, what's she doin' in there?"

"Sleeping," Daniel said.

"Ya think?" Jack replied.

He walked into the room and grabbed his nightclothes off his bed. He looked at Sam, smiling slightly. 

__

She's so beautiful when she's asleep, he thought to himself. _Just like when she's working hard on something in her lab._

He reached down and cupped her face in his hand. He kept gazing at her until a loud cough could be heard from the door. He jumped, having forgotten Teal'c and Daniel were there, and immediately walked out of the room.

"See ya in the morning," he said, making his way towards the caravan.

Ten minutes later he was ready to go to bed. He looked around the caravan. It was so nice and tidy. Very unlike the room that the guys were all sharing. He switched on the small TV and fiddled with the antennae for about five minutes. 

"Ah, for crying out loud," he grunted, turning off the TV when he couldn't get any reception. "Never mind."

He crawled onto the bed and leaned over to switch the light off. But his eyes fell on the photo, now lying upright, on the beside table. He smiled, wishing it was his to keep. But he decided that Sam probably needed it more than he did. He'd had that life once before, it hadn't turned out that well, but he'd had it, he could remember it. Sam had never had that. She could only remember what she'd seen in movies, imagine things.

He leaned back in the bed and shut the light. 

__

Goodnight, he thought to himself.

Sam opened her eyes to find Daniel and Teal'c standing near her bed, talking quietly.

"OH MY GOD!" Sam said, sitting up straight. "I fell asleep. Where's the Colonel?"

"He's sleeping in your caravan," Daniel said.

She jumped off the bed and ran out of the room. She ran all the way to the caravan and pulled open the door.

"Sorry, sir," she said.

She heard a groan and saw him sit up, turning on the light. "Carter, why don't you just go back to sleep? You woke me up."

"Sorry, sir," she replied. "I thought you'd rather sleep in your own bed."

"Oh, well I'd rather sleep in your bed anytime," he said sarcastically, winking.

She rolled her eyes. "Sir, do you mind if we just go back to our normal beds?"

"Sure thing Carter, whatever you want," he said, standing up and walking towards the door in his pyjamas.

She sat down on her bed as Jack opened the door. Suddenly a wave of dizziness washed over her and she suddenly had the urge to through up. Jack stopped.

"You OK Carter?" he asked.

"I don't feel so good all of a sudden, sir," she said.

He closed the door and walked back over to her. He sat down on the bed and put his arm around her. She wanted to pull away, but she couldn't, so she leaned against his shoulder. The time they had been Thera and Jonah, just two normal people, came back to her mind.

"I'll be OK," Sam said, suddenly realising that they were no longer Thera and Jonah, but Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill.

"I'll go," he said. "You sure you'll be OK?"

She nodded and crawled into her bed. Jack stood at the end of her bed for a minute and then walked around the edge, pulling the blanket up over her. She smiled a thank you and stood over her for a moment, watching. Then he switched off the light and walked towards the door.

"Sam," he said suddenly.

She sat up slightly. "Yes."

"I love you too," he said.

She smiled.

__

I love you too, the sentence repeated itself in her head.

She'd heard it many times before. From her old boyfriends. But it had never meant anything, not like it did now. Now he meant that he loved her, he wasn't just saying that because it was the right thing to say. And the other thing was, she loved him back. But they'd have to leave their relationship alone, at least for now. 

It would happen someday, she knew it; just not then, not at that moment.

"I know," she whispered as he left the room. "You know and I know, and it'll happen on day."

__

One day, she repeated longingly. _One day._

THE END

__

Sorry its so short, there MIGHT repeat MIGHT be a sequel in a few months, but you'll have ta wait!

Hope ya enjoyed!


End file.
